Gingham, the La Mesa eatery opened last year by San Diego celebrity chef Brian Malarkey, is being sold to the Cohn Restaurant Group.

Restaurateur David Cohn confirmed this week that his company will be taking over the now-closed restaurant, which he plans to reinvent as a neighborhood, Mediterranean-style bistro, not unlike two of his other venues, 100 Wines in Hillcrest and Bo Beau in Ocean Beach.

He expects to close escrow on the business deal within a week.

"La Mesa is an under-served market, and while there are a lot of great restaurants in the area, we think something a little more creative and design-oriented -- but neighborhood friendly -- is what this restaurant should be," Cohn said. "We have asked a lot of people in La Mesa for input, and we talked with the mayor, and everybody seems to like this idea."

The sale marks yet another turning point for the still evolving fabric-themed restaurant empire started by Malarkey and partner James Brennan, who opened a number of San Diego nightclubs before turning his attention to restaurant development.

Brennan, who declined to comment on the Gingham sale, has repeatedly said that the Enlightened Hospitality Group, which he and Malarkey founded in 2009, is focusing its efforts on expanding its popular Searsucker and Herringbone restaurants to locations outside San Diego County. The dining group, however, has struggled to replicate its success at some of its other venues as it opened several restaurants in quick succession in recent years.

Late last month, Enlightened Hospitality announced it was closing its Burlap restaurant in Carmel Valley and that it will reopen it as a Searsucker, the downtown San Diego dining spot that has been exported to Scottsdale and Austin. And three weeks before that, it announced it was closing the barbecue-themed Gingham, even though months earlier Malarkey had emailed patrons that he was committed to keeping it open and delivering "my delicious versions of your favorite backyard barbecue classics."

Cohn said chef-partner Deborah Scott and Operations Manager Michele Kveen will be overseeing the Gingham makeover, but no name has been chosen for the new restaurant. Philippe Beltran, who helped design 100 Wines and Bo Beau, will also be involved with the redesign of Gingham, said Cohn, whose company operates 15 dining spots in San Diego County.

A key part of the restaurant's new look will be an overhaul of the patio, which will include a children's play area, similar to The Station Tavern in South Park.

"We will invest a lot in fixing up the patio. We want that to be really fabulous," said Cohn, who hopes to reopen the restaurant by Aug. 1.

The Cohn Restaurant Group had been in negotiations late last year to purchase Gingham, but later backed out.

"We were really busy at that time and decided to pass," Cohn said, "and we later had a chance to revisit the deal."